BAYTOWN, Texas - Despite shooting for higher goals than a first round loss, NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Lee Callaway is pleased his Tejano Salsa/RacecarRigs.com backed team is heading in the right direction. After being plagued by severe tireshake at nearly every event last season, Callaway's Stacy McLemore led team seemed to get a handle on the problem at this past weekend's O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Callaway, who lives within earshot of the track in Baytown, Texas, qualified his Tejano Salsa/RacecarRigs.com blown alcohol dragster in the ninth position with a 5.475 second elapsed time at 257.97 mph. In round one, he had to square off with the only other blown alcohol dragster in the field, Jeff Wilson. Wilson took the win in a close race with a 5.491 at 257.43 mph to Callaway's 5.524 at 257.94 mph. Callaway then had his hands full after the run as his parachutes did not deploy. Using the brakes alone, Callaway was able to escape disaster and stopped the car just as the front end entered the sand trap at the end of the track.

"I've always been a firm believer in throwing both parachutes no matter how long the shutdown area is," stated Callaway. "That run was a prime example why. When I didn't feel the parachutes hit, I knew immediately I had to stop the car with the brakes. It started bouncing pretty bad, and I would have to wait for it to settle down, then hit the brakes again and ride it out until it would settle down again. It was bouncing pretty high, and it bottomed out a few times. If I had only threw one parachute, and if it didn't open, you've just wasted a bunch of time messing with that and waiting for it to deploy. By that time, you're too far into the shutdown area, and you're going off the end for sure."

"The car still isn't running what it should," Callaway continued. "We found a major problem with our clutch over the offseason, and we seem to be on the right track there. Now we just need some laps to figure out some things. We haven't taken the car apart, but something in the clutch went wrong in the first round. We added clutch, and it just blew through the clutch like it had less. The air and track didn't change that much from the last run, so we're investigating that area pretty heavy."

The next event for the Tejano Salsa/RacecarRigs.com team will be the Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas, April 29-May 1.

"Hopefully we can get to Dallas a little early and try to test a few new things."

To find out more about Callaway Racing's marketing partners, visit the websites below.

TejanoSalsa.com - Get a true taste of Texas with Tejano Salsa. Made with the freshest ingredients by people who really know what salsa should taste like. Log on to TejanoSalsa.com or TexMexToGo.com to order online.

RacecarRigs.com - Sell your rig or racecar by enlisting the consignment specialist at RacecarRigs.com. Log on to find out how.